May 6, 2002
Baptist Convention of the Americas?
Not yet, but maybe, Reynolds says
___By John Pierce
___Baptists Today
___WACO--Herbert Reynolds went to the Texas capital of Austin in the fall of 1998 and spent his own money to legally reserve the name "Baptist Convention of the Americas."
___As chancellor of Baylor University at the time, Reynolds thought the name might be used some day by dissatisfied Southern Baptists to form a new denominational body. He still does.
___Reynolds, 72, continues devoting time to the university as president emeritus--and still contemplates the future of Baptists.
___"I think we have no alternative but to continue to move ahead toward another larger body of Baptists who covet freedom in Christ and who embrace those essentials of the faith and Baptist principles," Reynolds said in an interview with the national newspaper Baptists Today.
___Surrounded by his vast collection of bears--the Baylor mascot--Reynolds added that Southern Baptists "have been two different peoples for more than a decade."
___If and how the new convention ever formulates are undetermined, he said. If it is going to happen, however, he believes Texas Baptists must take the lead.
___"Given our size and resources, Texas Baptists would be neglectful" if they did not give leadership to forming a larger new convention, he explained.
___The formation of a national Mainstream Baptist Network in Atlanta in 2000 was "a step in the direction we'd ultimately like to go," he said. But he admits uncertainty about whether that organization can pull together the various parties needed for organizing a formal denominational structure.
___"It is too early to assess the eventual outcome of the Mainstream Baptist Network, but it is an essential coalition at this time, and it does function as a political entity in seeking to thwart and deter the fundamentalist effort across the old SBC," Reynolds said.
___But isn't the 10-year-old Cooperative Baptist Fellowship already providing a viable alternative for disenfranchised Southern Baptists?
___The CBF never has been "a political entity," Reynolds said. And he doubts the organization is strong enough to "act as a stack pole in Baptist life and to expand upon its endeavors."
___While expressing high regard for CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal, and his predecessor Cecil Sherman, Reynolds said he does not expect much growth from the Fellowship.
___"The CBF was a vital alternative when it was founded, and it gave our people a great deal of hope and satisfaction in the midst of the ongoing struggle within the SBC," Reynolds said. Yet "there was never any intimation or suggestion that CBF would seek to become a convention."
___Out of the decision not to formalize as a denomination, Reynolds said, "grew the notion that the CBF would be principally a small mission-sending agency and a source of fellowship for those who could not abide the power and control antics of the SBC leadership."
___Vestal said he respects Reynolds and his opinion, but he disagrees with Reynolds' assessment of the CBF.
___"CBF is indeed a mission-sending organization, and I might add, a very remarkable one," Vestal responded. "And CBF is much more."
___After budget allocations next year, the CBF will have provided more than $12 million to fund theological education, including $2 million for Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor, Vestal noted.
___"More than 1,400 students are studying in the consortium of CBF schools," he added. "We have 18 state and regional networks. We have $18 million in a foundation."
___"We're a partnering network that functions like a denomination in a post-denominational world," Vestal asserted.
___In order to draw a larger number of dissatisfied Baptists, however, Reynolds believes the CBF must position itself more to the right theologically.
___"You're not going to carry a lot of Baptists with you unless you are a little right of center," Reynolds said. "Baptists are conservative people."
___But seeing the formation of a new Baptist denomination is not Reynolds' greatest concern. Rather he wants to be sure that opportunities are available for the generations after him to understand the historic freedoms and principles he sees absent among current Southern Baptist leaders.
___"This is not going to affect me," he said. "I'm concerned about my children and grandchildren and their children. I don't want them to grow up in fundamentalism--that's the real reason for my involvement."
___And he admits that goal may be met in ways other than he has imagined.
___"New and different concepts may evolve over the immediate years ahead which will offer more promise and be more attractive to a greater number of Baptists than the Baptist Convention of the Americas," he said.
___But just in case, the name is reserved.
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